When I was a kid I used to put out editions of my own personal newspaper. There was always only one copy since I had to write it out by hand. My two readers would each look at it and then give it back to me. My career in newspapers didn't go far...
 |
| I've got a lot of "necessities" that I don't think I need any longer. |
Newspapers have always figured into my life in some way. My parents always had a newspaper delivered and I would usually read through it for at least the comic section, but also to read some of the stories. It was not unusual for me to find research data in the paper that I would use for school projects. Then there were the days when we had current events show-and-tell in class. We'd all have to find a newspaper story to explain to the classroom. As much as I disliked standing in front of the class and speaking, this was one activity that I enjoyed. Typically I'd bring an unusual story buried within the paper--a story that I didn't think any other student would duplicate. And usually no one else had brought it. I felt like I was delivering news that no one had yet heard and to me that seemed exciting.
During my high school years I began saving the old newspapers that came to our house. They began piling up in my room and then later in other parts of the house. This was me thinking ecologically before conservation became a fad and then a relevant issue. Later, a couple of years after I had entered college and began working at a warehouse during the summer, I discovered a recycling center where I could cash in the old newspapers I had been saving. I loaded up my van and went to the center. Now, I can't quite remember how much I got for the accumulated newsprint, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty dollars. It was enough to fill my gas tank with plenty of cash left over for other things. Gas was very cheap at the time and thirty bucks could be stretched nicely when hourly pay was $1.85.
Over the years I've read newspapers for entertainment, information, and a general awareness of my world and my community. During the decade plus that I worked on the road I regularly read papers that would be discarded. When I settled down into my life in Los Angeles I subscribed to the L.A. Times and began saving papers which I would bring to work to be used for packing boxes being shipped.
There has always been something special to me in newspapers. There still is even though I've stopped subscribing. I don't think any newspapers are like they used to be, but nothing is. We don't need the daily paper to keep us updated on the news. Coupons are available in many places. If I want crossword puzzles I can always buy a puzzle magazine which for now I won't need to do because I have a few years' worth of puzzles stored up from old newspapers.
We really don't need newspapers like we might need our medicines, household supplies, and toilet paper. We need food and other stuff to keep us properly nourished. We need many things and even many of those things that we think we need are just things that make life better. But it would be hard to convince me that we need newspapers in our day and age. And it pains me to say that.
I used to think that my newspapers were necessities. Then after they stopped coming it didn't seem to matter that much. Instead of reading newspapers I did something else. I still have a dwindling stack of newspapers with some dating back to 1999. Mostly they are book review and political commentary sections. I'm slowly reading through the dwindling stacks that remain. When they are gone I'll be happy that I have space in my closet for something else. That's probably all that I'll feel unless I really start thinking about it, which I probably won't.
Do you still have a newspaper subscription? What continued value do you see in the existence of newspapers? Do you trust the news that you get on the internet less than that which might appear in a newspaper?
